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Flexibility has been pursued enthusiastically in the field of porous crystals for enhancing their adsorption and separation performances. However, flexibility has never been observed among porous crystals sustained thoroughly by van der Waals interactions since flexible motions readily lead to the collapse of the porous architecture. Here we report a van der Waals crystal featuring conformational flexibility as well as permanent microporosity. The single-crystal structure and its structural transition in response to the adsorption of water molecules were unambiguously disclosed by means of electron and X-ray crystal structure analyses. The peripheral aromatic rings of the constituent molecule rotated as increasing the ambient humidity, while the connectivity of the pores was maintained throughout the structural transition. The transformative pores allowed the guest water molecules to move exceedingly quickly through the pores with a time constant of 490 μs. We demonstrated that the quick release of water induced by photothermal heating induced a significant upward bending of a film set above the crystalline powder compared to conventional porous materials. This finding contributes to the future crystal engineering based on van der Waals interactions rather than cohesive bonds. Flexibility in porous crystals can enhance their adsorption and separation performances, however, achieving flexibility in porous crystals sustained solely through van der Waals interactions is challenging given that flexible motions typically lead to framework collapse. Here, the authors present a van der Waals crystal that features both conformational flexibility and permanent microporosity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four donor‐acceptor (D‐A) polymers are synthesized by combining two different electron donors (truxene and its more electron rich triaza analogue, triindole) with an electron‐deficient monomer (benzothiadiazole) through two different positions (2,7,13 or 3,8,13) and their optoelectronic properties are studied by theoretical and experimental methods. One of the polymers exhibits remarkable sensing capabilities for explosive nitraoaromatics while another demonstrated efficient photocatalytic activity in the aerobic sulfoxidation of the sulfur mustard simulant 2‐chloro‐ethyl ethyl sulfide (MGS) sulfoxidation. These results highlight their potential applications in defense‐related areas. Moreover, the structure‐performance relationships observed among the four polymers have enabled us to deepen the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the performance of these polymers in the aforementioned applications, thereby providing valuable insights to further improve their properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiopulmonary nematodes cause health and fitness disorders in wild and domestic carnivores. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) participates in the spread of these shared parasites at the domestic-wildlife interface. This study aimed to evaluate the sensitivity of post-mortem diagnostic method for detecting lungworms in carnivores, and its exactness to estimate the parasite intensity of each nematode species. Cardiorespiratory system of fifty-one foxes were examined through three consecutively methodological steps: first, the tracheobronchial tree, pulmonary arteries and their branches were opened (OT); next, lung parenchyma was immersed in water and squeezed (WS); finally, the parenchyma was artificially digested in a pepsin and chlorhydric acid solution (AD). Eucoleus aerophilus, Angiostrongylus vasorum, Crenosoma vulpis and Metathelazia capsulata were identified. The number of recovered nematodes in each step were 454 (OT), 285 (WS) and 141 (AD). The use of OT and WS helped to improve parasite intensity results and decreased false negative cases. Accordingly, when OT and WS were used together, the sensitivity in the detection of parasitized foxes was 96.1%, while the exactness of parasite intensity was 84%. When AD was performed, although sensitivity does not rise, results were more exact, increasing the total number of detected parasites by 16%. Moreover, AD improved the sensitivity in the detection of A. vasorum and M. capsulata, as well as quantifying more exactly the parasite intensity (92.5% and 92.3% of exactness without AD, respectively). Our study provides valuable information that should be taken into account when planning epidemiological studies based on cardiopulmonary nematode detection in carnivores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sanidad Militar is the property of Ministerio de Defensa, Subdireccion General de Publicaciones y Patrimonio Cultural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We report here the synthesis and physico-chemical characterization of a series of donor–acceptor (D–A) copolymers consisting of 4,7-di(2-thienyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole and isoindigo building blocks, which have been progressively fluorinated with the aim of enhancing intrachain interactions and thus increasing their electrical performances in organic field effect transistors (OFETs). The effect of the polymeric partially locked conformations, upon fluorination, on the material properties has been comprehensively analyzed by means of spectroscopic (UV-vis-NIR and Raman) and electrochemical techniques and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Raman spectroscopy highlights that the impact of gradual fluorination on the molecular and electronic properties is highly dependent on the building blocks into which the fluorine atoms are introduced, being a much more efficient strategy to add them in the isoindigo unit. Electrical characterization of OFETs also shows that fluorination progressively increases the polymer coplanarity and electron affinity, varying the electrical performance from low hole dominated charge transport in the unfluorinated polymer to balanced ambipolar charge transport in the fluorinated ones. The best field-effect mobilities were recorded when fluorine atoms were added to the isoindigo unit, with values of 0.1 cm2 V−1 s−1 for both hole and electron transports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of six conjugated oligomers consisting of a central pyrrolo[2,3-d:5,4-d′]bisthiazole (PBTz) end-capped with either thienyl, furyl, or phenyl groups have been prepared from N-alkyl-and N-aryl-pyrrolo[2,3-d:5,4-d′]bisthiazoles via Stille and Negishi cross-coupling. The full oligomeric series was thoroughly investigated via photophysical and electrochemical studies, in parallel with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, in order to correlate the cumulative effects of both aryl end-groups and N-functionalization on the resulting optical and electronic properties. Through comparison with the analogous dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]pyrrole (DTP) materials, the effect of replacing DTP with PBTz on the material HOMO energy and visible light absorption is quantified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana is the property of Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Biomedicas de la Universidad Ricardo Palma and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Toxicología is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Toxicologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Toxicología is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Toxicologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Toxicología is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Toxicologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mycotoxins are common toxic metabolites present in cereals and vegetal raw materials, which are commonly included in animal feed. Ochratoxin A (OTA) has generally been detected in plant origin foodstuffs such as cereals, coffee, dried fruits, nuts, among others. However, it has been also detected in meat and meat by-products, especially those derived from pork, which is the most sensitive specie to OTA exposure. The exposure of farm animals to mycotoxins could lead to undesirable residues in food products of animal origin, which constitute an important part of daily diets. Thus, although contents reported in animal by-products are lower than those reported in products of vegetal origin, there is also a public health concern about the possible ingestion of edible animal products contaminated by mycotoxins, as their entry into the food chain may cause adverse effects on human health. No maximum levels have been set for OTA in animal by-products, although its presence in meat and meat products made from contaminated raw materials has been widely reported, reaching high levels in some cases. This review summarizes the stateof- the-art on the occurrence and the carry-over of OTA in meat products, especially focused on the last years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The linear response within the elimination of the small component formalism is aimed at obtaining the leading order relativistic corrections to magnetic molecular properties in the context of the elimination of the small component approximation. In the present work we extend the method in order to include two-body effects in the form of a mean field one-body operator. To this end we consider the four-component Dirac-Hartree-Fock operator as the starting point in the evaluation of the second order relativistic expression of magnetic properties. The approach thus obtained is the fully consistent leading order approximation of the random phase approximation four-component formalism. The mean field effect on the relativistic corrections to both the diamagnetic and paramagnetic terms of magnetic properties taking into account both the Coulomb and Breit two-body interactions is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work a set of formal relations connecting different approaches to calculate relativistic effects on magnetic molecular properties are proven. The linear response (LR) within the elimination of the small component (ESC), Breit Pauli, and minimal-coupling approaches are compared. To this end, the leading order ESC reduction of operators within the minimal-coupling four-component approach is carried out. The equivalence of all three approaches within the ESC approximation is proven. It is numerically verified for the NMR nuclear-magnetic shielding tensor taking HX and CH3X (X=Br,I) as model compounds. Formal relations proving the gauge origin invariance of the full relativistic effect on the NMR nuclear-magnetic shielding tensor within the LR-ESC approach are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct an isothermal–isobaric partition function of glass-forming polymeric liquids by separating the local minima of the potential energy hypersurface from the anharmonic vibrations about these packings. The partition function is evaluated by a maximum term method. A suitable approximation to the partition function below a temperature T2 is required since the maximum term approach is not valid in this range of temperatures. We obtained the following results: (a) The density of states including thermodynamic quantities such as entropy and heat capacity reveal an Ehrenfest second-order transition at T2; (b) T2

Cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) is an indole-tetramic acid neurotoxin produced by several strains of Aspergillus and Penicillium genera. CPA is an emerging mycotoxin which occurrence and toxicity mechanism have come into focus in recent years. In this work, the toxicity alleviation produced by two of the most representative antioxidant compounds present in extra virgin olive oil, namely tyrosol and oleuropein, in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells exposed to CPA was investigated. Cell viability was evaluated by the MTT assay after simultaneous treatment of CPA (400-600 nM) with each of the antioxidant compounds at different concentrations (12.5-200 µM). The results showed that 25 µM of tyrosol attenuated the toxic effects produced by the exposure of 400, 500 and 600 nM of the CPA toxin in SH-SY5Y cells. On the other hand, oleuropein at 25 µM prevented the toxic effects produced by CPA at 400 nM. These results suggest that there commonly consumed phenolic compounds at low concentrations (25 µM) could exert a cytoprotective effect against CPA; but more research is needed to fully understand the underlying mechanisms and validate these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Toxicología is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Toxicologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Toxicología is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Toxicologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Toxicología is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Toxicologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Toxicología is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Toxicologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Toxicología is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Toxicologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The global prevalence of infertility among reproductive-aged population ranges between 12.6% and 17.5%, with higher prevalence rates in some areas such as Europe[1]. One of the causes of the alteration of the reproductive function could be the exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as some pesticides[2]. The purpose of the present study is to assess the presence of urinary pesticide metabolites in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. Twenty five urinary pesticide biomarkers were determined using liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-Orbitrap-ID-X) in a cohort of 48 women undergoing IVF treatments. Eight out of twenty five pesticide biomarkers showed detection frequencies higher than 20%. The most detected compounds were the insect repellent N,N-diethyl-mtoluamide (DEET) and a pyrethroid biomarker (3-phenoxybenzoic acid) which were found in 79% and 56% of the samples, respectively. Other compounds highly detected were biomarkers of organophosphate pesticides and fungicides. Regarding concentrations, the geometric means of the detected compounds ranged from 1.3 (2,4-D) to 6.6 (DCCA) ng/mL. Furthermore, at least one pesticide biomarker was detected in 98% of the samples, and half of the samples showed four or more pesticide biomarker levels. The present study shows the presence of pesticide metabolites in women undergoing IVF treatments. Since some of the detected contaminants are considered endocrine disrupting chemicals, it is necessary to continue studying the exposure to this pollutants in both general and vulnerable populations and to perform risk assessment studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Toxicología is the property of Asociacion Espanola de Toxicologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archivos de Neurociencias is the property of Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia, Departamento de Publicaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archivos de Neurociencias is the property of Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia, Departamento de Publicaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archivos de Neurociencias is the property of Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia, Departamento de Publicaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Biociências is the property of Revista Biociencias and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We propose stochastic models for predicting and analysing the production of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), lettuce (Lactuca sativa), and cucumber (Cucumis sativus) cultivated in an aquaponic system. Fish and plants were cultivated in a shade house using 30, 60, and 90 fish/m3 employing an NFT system. Results from Monte Carlo simulation showed that higher yields of tilapia and cucumber, as well as larger plant sizes, were obtained by stocking at the highest density (90 fish/m3). At this density, with 95% confidence, yields of tilapia varied from 39.60 to 59.26 kg/m3, the final length of lettuce leaves varied from 13.53 to 28.5 cm, the final length of cucumber plant varied from 119 to 235.3 cm, and biomass of cucumber varied from 0.98 to 0.99 kg/m2. Regression and sensitivity analyses showed that dissolved oxygen, density, temperature, and electrical conductivity significantly affected the production of tilapia; density, nitrites, pH, and temperature influenced lettuce production; ammonium, pH, and density affected the production of cucumber plants; and ammonium and density influenced yields of cucumber. The greatest certainty to achieve higher yields of large tilapia was found at low densities. For plants, there was more certainty of harvesting larger products when cultivated with tilapia stocked at the highest density. A preliminary economic analysis of tilapia production showed that net revenues ranged from USD$ 18.50 to 81.76 per system, and that the best results were obtained when using the highest stocking density. We conclude that the models are useful for predicting and analysing the production of an aquaponic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Médica MD is the property of Comite Editorial de la Revista Medica MD and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We have performed a multiscale approach to study the influence of peripheral substitution in the semiconducting properties of discotic liquid-crystalline triindoles. Charge carrier mobility as high as 1.4 cm2 V−1 s−1 was experimentally reported for triindoles substituted with alkynyl chains on the periphery (Gómez-Lor et al. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2011, 50, 7399–7402). In this work, our goal is to get a deeper understanding of both the molecular electronic structure and microscopic factors affecting the charge transport properties in triindoles as a function of the spacer group connecting the central cores with the external alkyl chains (i.e., alkyne or phenyl spacers groups). To this end, we first perform Quantum Mechanical (QM) calculations to assess how the peripheral substitution affects the electronic structure and the internal reorganization energy. Secondly, boxes of stacked molecules were built and relaxed through molecular dynamics to obtain realistic structures. Conformational analysis and calculations of transfer integrals for closed neighbours were performed. Our results show that the insertion of ethynyl spacers between the central aromatic core and the flexible peripheral chains results in lower reorganization energies and enhanced intermolecular order within the stacks with a preferred cofacial 60° staggered conformation, which would result in high charge-carrier mobilities in good agreement with the experimental data. This work allows a deeper understanding of charge carrier mobility in columnar phases, linking the structural order at the molecular level to the property of interest, i.e. the charge carrier mobility. We hope that this understanding will improve the design of systems at the supramolecular level aiming at obtaining a more defined conducting channel, higher mobility and smaller fluctuations within the column. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Osteoporosis & Mineral Metabolism / Revista de Osteoporosis y Metabolismo Mineral (Spanish edition) is the property of Ibanez y Plaza and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We present a novel silicon-organic hybrid modulator based on an integrated dual-mode interferometer. The modulator offers a compact, simplified design and enhanced robustness to on-chip fluctuations of temperature compared to conventional Mach-Zehnder based systems. A prototype modulator showing a voltage dependent transmission spectrum is obtained by cladding a dual-mode waveguide in a 250 nm silicon-on-insulator technology with a customized organic electro-optic layer. Estimated phase shifts and corresponding figures of merit are discussed in this contribution. The used organic layer is based on the guest-host approach with customized donor-π-acceptor chromophore embedded and poled in a poly(methylmethacrylate) matrix. The presented prototype is to the best of the authors' knowledge the first integrated single waveguide silicon-organic hybrid modulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objetives: Assess the role of the catalase antioxidant enzyme in the vascular calcification process associated with chronic renal failure (CRF) and its effect on bone mass. Material and methods: Wild type C57/BL6J mice (WT) and transgenic mice (TG) were used, that overexpress the catalase enzyme, to which CRF was induced. Control WT and TG mice were used in simulated intervention. After 16 weeks, the mice were sacrificed, with serum samples taken for biochemical markers as well as residual pieces of kidney, aorta and tibias. An in vitro model of primary culture of smooth vascular muscle cells (SVMC) taken from the WT and TG aorta which underwent eight days of 3 mM phosphorus and 2 mM calcium calcifying medium. Results: A significant increase in Runx2 gene expression, calcium renal deposit and bone structure deterioration at trabecular level was only detected in WT mice with CRF. This was not observed in TG mice with CRF. Only in the case of WT mice SVMC, did added calcification medium raise calcium levels, proteic Runx2 expression and the reactive oxygen species of mitochondria with low catalase enzyme. Conclusions: Calcifying catalase over-expression was observed in both in vivo and in vitro, with in vivo showing that this reduction was accompanied by an improvement in bone parameters under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclic paraphenylenes, [n]CPPs, and linear paraphenylenes, [n]LPPs, formed by n benzenes, are investigated by Raman spectroscopy for n = 5 to 12 and density functional theory (DFT) for n = 4 to 20. The information on the experimental Raman frequencies and intensities, combined with DFT computations and reported X-ray diffraction structures, provides a consistent interpretation of the Raman spectra and allows establishing relevant structure–property trends. Structural and electronic effects such as benzene ring bending, inter-ring torsions, π-conjugation (aromaticity) and orbital energy gaps as a function of the linear elongation in [n]LPPs versus the macrocyclic curvature in [n]CPPs and of the molecular size (i.e., polymer limit) are systematically analyzed on the basis of the vibrational Raman properties. Changes in the BLA as an indicator of the degree of quinonoid character are analyzed and linked to the Effective Conjugation Coordinate (ECC) model. The BLA patterns involved in twisted and non-twisted conformations and in different species (bipolarons, quinonoid tautomers, and ECC active modes) are compared and their differences are discussed. This paper offers a unified interpretation of structural and electronic aspects in relation to the evolution from linear 1D π-systems to cyclic 2D structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuaternario y Geomorfología is the property of Cuaternario y Geomorfologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Citrinin (CIT) is a mycotoxin frequently found in cereals with toxicity mainly leading to kidney damage. However, CIT toxicity mechanisms have not been yet fully investigated. We aimed to study CIT toxicity using both 3D cultures (innovative tool), and a zebrafish model. For in vitro studies, we obtained 3D spheroids from SH-SY5Y cells and exposed them to CIT for 24, 48 and 72h. We observed an increase in ATF4 and CHOP gene expression revealing endoplasmic reticulum stress. LAMP2, which is related with lysosomes, also showed an increasing trend. Regarding oxidative stress, we measured a decrease in ROS production after CIT exposure. We also observed a cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase. Our in vivo studies highlighted differences in the lethal doses being the LD50 255 ± 10.10 µM CIT at 72h, and 140.5 ± 21.7 µM CIT at 96h. 100% of the embryos showed malformations at the highest CIT concentration (300 µM), while no malformations were found at the lowest one (50 µM). We measured enhanced expression of genes related to apoptosis (apaf1, cas3 and bax), antioxidant activity (gpx), necrosis (ripk3) and inflammation (IL-8, CXCL-CIC). Similarly to the results obtained in 3D cultures, we observed a decrease in ROS production in zebrafish exposed to CIT. In conclusion, our approach allowed to more accurately recapitulate and study CIT behavior, based on the development of a general model for mycotoxins toxicity studies, for data quality improvement and tailored public health's risk assessments. Acknowledgements: This work was funded through a project from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020-115871RB-100) and also supported by the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC-StG) MICRONEX (UERI17, PI: E. Cimetta). Moreover, FJ Martí-Quijal thanks Universitat de Valencia for the pre-doctoral grant "Atracció de Talent". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enteromyxosis caused by Enteromyxum scophthalmi is one of the parasitizations with a higher economic impact on turbot, Scophthalmus maximus ( L.), aquaculture. This myxosporean produces severe catarrhal enteritis with abundant inflammatory infiltrates in the lamina propria-submucosa ( LP), epithelial detachment and leucocyte depletion of the lymphohaematopoietic organs. Some advances made on the pathogenesis pointed to a role of apoptosis in the enteromyxosis. Therefore, the main aim of this work was to employ the TUNEL assay and the anti-(active caspase-3) immunohistochemical assay to detect apoptotic cells in both healthy and E. scophthalmi-infected turbot in order to establish the presence and distribution of apoptotic cells during development of the disease. More apoptotic cells located within the gastrointestinal epithelium were observed in the initial stages of the infection in E. scophthalmi-infected turbot compared with non-infected turbot. As the infection progressed, a higher degree of apoptosis occurred in the epithelium of folds heavily parasitized. In the severely infected turbot, apoptosis was also found among the leucocytes of the intestinal inflammatory infiltrates. Moreover, the number of active caspase-3-positive cells in the lymphohaematopoietic organs tended to increase with disease severity. In view of the results, increased apoptosis in the epithelium may favour the scaling that occurs during enteromyxosis and cell death of leucocytes in the intestinal LP, contributing to leucocyte depletion in severe cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Thanks to technological advancement, at present there exist many devices with multimedia support in our environment; among them, being mobile devices, which offer the ability to display video and audio resources from the palm of the hands, and even act as multimedia sources. However, the heterogeneity of such devices makes the multimedia integration difficult to get portable solutions. This problem is the focus of this document, which integrates environmental multimedia resources (IP cameras, Webcams, Aibo cameras and microphones) to be played in real time over Virtual Machines, in particular, using JavaME devices. We also present the techniques for generating multimedia streaming from the Virtual Machines accessing the cameras and microphones of mobile devices. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NH4-bearing phases from pre-Permian schists of the Internal Zones of the Betic Cordillera (Spain) have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetry, infrared spectroscopy, and transmission-analytical electron microscopy. The content and distribution of NH4 in these phases have been estimated by combining elemental analysis of N with mineral quantification based on X-ray diffraction, whole-rock composition, and electron microprobe data. The obtained results indicate that the NH4 content in vermiculite ranges between ~0.5 and ~1.0 (wt%), leading to terms with NH4 > K in the interlayer. The NH4 content is <0.30 (wt%) in biotite from underlying schists. Muscovite shows very low NH4 contents (0.04 wt%) through the complete sequence. We interpret that, initially contained in low-grade dioctahedral mica, NH4 was incorporated in the structure of the trioctahedral phases formed at increasing metamorphic conditions. The entry of NH4 in the interlayer was favored in chlorite:vermiculite mixed-layered structures and transitional phases with vacancies in the A site (vermiculite) and weak cohesion between layers. NH4 appears to favor the formation of intermediate phases instead the direct transformation of chlorite to biotite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The realization that folding free energy barriers can be small enough to result in significant population of the species at the barrier top has sprouted in several methods to estimate folding barriers from equilibrium experiments. Some of these approaches are based on fitting the experimental thermogram measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to a one-dimensional representation of the folding free-energy surface (FES). Different physical models have been used to represent the FES: (1) a Landau quartic polynomial as a function of the total enthalpy, which acts as an order parameter; (2) the projection onto a structural order parameter (i.e.number of native residues or native contacts) of the free energy of all the conformations generated by Ising-like statistical mechanical models; and (3) mean-field models that define conformational entropy and stabilization energy as functions of a continuous local order parameter. The fundamental question that emerges is how can we obtain robust, model-independent estimates of the thermodynamic folding barrier from the analysis of DSC experiments. Here we address this issue by comparing the performance of various FES models in interpreting the thermogram of a protein with a marginal folding barrier. We chose the small α-helical protein PDD, which folds–unfolds in microseconds crossing a free energy barrier previously estimated as ∼1 RT. The fits of the PDD thermogram to the various models and assumptions produce FES with a consistently small free energy barrier separating the folded and unfolded ensembles. However, the fits vary in quality as well as in the estimated barrier. Applying Bayesian probabilistic analysis we rank the fit performance using a statistically rigorous criterion that leads to a global estimate of the folding barrier and its precision, which for PDD is 1.3 ± 0.4 kJ mol−1. This result confirms that PDD folds over a minor barrier consistent with the downhill folding regime. We have further validated the multi-model Bayesian approach through the analysis of two additional protein systems: gpW, a midsize single-domain with α + β topology that also folds in microseconds and has been previously catalogued as a downhill folder, and α-spectrin SH3, a domain of similar size but with a β-barrel fold, slow-folding kinetics and two-state-like thermodynamics. From a general viewpoint, the Bayesian analysis developed here results in a statistically robust, virtually model-independent, method to estimate the thermodynamic free-energy barriers to protein folding from DSC thermograms. Our method appears to be sufficiently accurate to consistently detect small differences in the barrier height, and thus opens up the possibility of characterizing experimentally the changes in thermodynamic folding barriers induced by single-point mutations on proteins within the downhill regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein physicochemical properties must undergo complex changes during evolution, as a response to modifications in the organism environment, the result of the proteins taking up new roles or because of the need to cope with the evolution of molecular interacting partners. Recent work has emphasized the role of stability and stability–function trade-offs in these protein adaptation processes. In the present study, on the other hand, we report that combinations of a few conservative, high-frequency-of-fixation mutations in the thioredoxin molecule lead to largely independent changes in both stability and the diversity of catalytic mechanisms, as revealed by single-molecule atomic force spectroscopy. Furthermore, the changes found are evolutionarily significant, as they combine typically hyperthermophilic stability enhancements with modulations in function that span the ranges defined by the quite different catalytic patterns of thioredoxins from bacterial and eukaryotic origin. These results suggest that evolutionary protein adaptation may use, in some cases at least, the potential of conservative mutations to originate a multiplicity of evolutionarily allowed mutational paths leading to a variety of protein modulation patterns. In addition the results support the feasibility of using evolutionary information to achieve protein multi-feature optimization, an important biotechnological goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]